Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club DLIT (153/7 in 20 overs, Waqas Khan 68*) tied with Hong Kong cricket Club (153/8 in 20 overs, Ninad Shah 33, Ghazanfer Mohammad 4-0-35-3)

Hong Kong Cricket Club (10/1) beat Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club DLIT (4/2) in the Super Over

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Spectators across the world were treated to a thrilling game this past Sunday at HKCC, with the hosts and defending champions being pushed to the very last ball by a talented young DLSW DLIT side. 40 overs of cricket was not enough to separate the two teams, leading to the first ever Super Over in CHK Premier League history. Kinchit Shah managed to find the fence twice off the bowling of Ehsan Khan, and took an excellently judged catch at the boundary, before Luke Jones scored a direct hit to win the game for the hosts in front of a loud and appreciative crowd.

Earlier in the day, wet skies caused a delayed start in the match – the covers being called for after HKCC skipper Isaac Poole had called correctly at the toss and elected to field first. Thankfully no overs were lost, with play getting underway at 2 PM. The first ball of the match slipped out of Tanveer Ahmed’s hand for a high full-toss no-ball, and Shahid Wasif deposited the free-hit over the fence for six. Israr Ahmed – playing his first ever league game in Hong Kong – picked up a boundary last ball of the over, and DLSW DLIT were off to a flier at 12/0.

Skipper Isaac Poole opted to open the bowling from the other end, and after being taken for a boundary first ball, struck back to dismiss Israr Ahmed, who skewed an attempted slog sweep to Jhatavedh Subramanyan at point. Isaac struck again in his second over, beating Shahid Wasif in flight to get him stumped, and DLSW DLIT were reduced to 28/2 after four overs.

Having done the early damage, the skipper took himself off and brought in Kinchit Shah, with Raag Kapur introduced from the mountain end to replace Tanveer Ahmed. Waqas Khan and Ehsan Khan proceeded to rebuild, scoring 26 runs in the next four overs, before Ehsan top edged a slog sweep off Kinchit’s bowling, the catch well taken by keeper Rory Caines. Charlie Wallis -former Durham MCCU seamer, who was also playing his first game in HK- cleaned up HK U19 allrounder Mehran Zeb for a duck in the next over, and after 9 overs DLSW DLIT were 59/4 and struggling.

Waqas Khan, in the meanwhile, was batting on 18 off 22 and looking comfortable. He started to take charge over the course of a 47-run partnership with Ibraheem Ishaq Mohammad, scoring 29 runs off his next 18 balls, and after 15 overs the platform for launch had been set – DLSW DLIT 105/4. Ibraheem fell in the 16^th over trying to push the pace, while Waqas brought up a 40-ball 50 the very next delivery. He took a four and a six off Kapur in the 17^th over, while Munir Dar found the fence off Tanveer in the 19^th, as DLSW DLIT ended on 153 in their 20 overs. Jhata bowled two tight overs at the death and, if not for the 5 wides he conceded first ball of the 20^th, would have returned exceptional figures of 1/10. He finished the day with 2/33, bowling his legbreaks with impressive control and variation, and together with Poole (2/12) and Kinchit (1/21) kept the DLSW DLIT batsmen in check throughout the innings. Waqas Khan ended on 68* off 51 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes, carrying the DLSW batting almost single handedly – no other batsman crossing 15.

In response, Benjamin Zanol got HKCC off to a flier, dispatching the first 2 balls of the innings from Mohsin Khan for boundaries, and then picking up two more boundaries off Aftab Hussain in the second. The two DLSW DLIT left-armers then pulled things back, with Aftab holding onto a sharp return catch to dismiss Zanol in the 4^th over for 20. Mohsin Khan then struck to dismiss Raag Kapur in the 5^th, the batsman skying one to mid-on, and after 5 overs HKCC’s score was identical to DLSW DLIT’s at this stage – 30/2.

HK veteran Kinchit Shah was joined out in the middle by last season’s Sunday League batsman of the year Luke Jones, and together the pair rebuilt in confident fashion. Mohsin Khan bowled his quota straight through from the mountain end -finishing with 1/25- before being replaced by Mehran Zeb, while Ehsan Khan and Ghazanfer Mohammad each took turns from the roadside end. Luke found the fence twice off the bowling of Ehsan Khan, while stand-in wicketkeeper Ibraheem Ishaq was beaten twice by the DLSW DLIT spinners, conceding 4 byes on each occasion. The fifty came up for HKCC in the 8^th over, and the chase was proceeding smoothly till Jones was dismissed against the run of play – trapped LBW by Ghazanfer in the 10^th over. As is often the case, one wicket becomes two, and Mehran Zeb nabbed the big wicket of Kinchit Shah in the 11^th – Ibraheem Ishaq, now relieved of wicket keeping duties, taking a well-judged catch at long-off. At the end of 11 overs, HKCC were 69/4 – 8 runs behind DLSW DLIT at this stage, and now in a spot of bother.

Ninad Shah seemed unfazed, and deposited Ghazanfer over long-on for 6 to start the 12^th over, demonstrating the form he was in. After 5 overs of spin, Ehsan Khan opted for some pace, bringing in Haroon Arshad on for the 13^th over. The young seamer struggled with his run-up, conceding 4 no-balls and a wide in an 11 ball over that went for 17 runs – Ninad Shah picking up a second six off one of the free hits. Ninad then picked up a third six in the next over, hitting Ghazanfer over long-off and nearly damaging CHK’s camera in the process! Ryan Buckley joined in on the action, and picked up one six off each of the following two overs, bowled by Ehsan Khan and Mehran Zeb. After 16 overs HKCC were 127/4 – Buckley and Ninad putting on 58 runs in the space of 5 overs to turn the game around. They now needed just 27 more to win off the final 4 overs with 6 wickets in hand.

But there were more twists to come. Ehsan Khan returned to bowl his final over in the 17^th, and managed to dismiss Ninad Shah – the lefthander lofting it to the deep extra cover – to bring his side back into the game. Mehran Zeb then trapped Rory Caines LBW on the reverse sweep in the 18^th, and suddenly HKCC were 131/6. Just 4 runs had come off those two overs, and now HKCC needed 23 runs off the final 2 overs. DLSW DLIT had edged ahead.

But the game was not over yet. Young Jhatavedh Subramanyam, who had demonstrated his composure with his death bowling in the first innings, drove Aftab Hussain inside-out for four and then slogged him over deep mid-wicket for six in consecutive balls, both shots met with massive cheers from the audience that had now built up at the ground. 13 came off the 19^th over, meaning that 10 runs were needed off the final over, which Ghazanfer Mohammad was entrusted with bowling.

Jhata took a single first ball, bringing the experienced Ryan Buckley to the crease. Buckley had a go on the second ball, targeting the midwicket boundary, but could only top edge it – Shahid Wasif taking a well-judged catch behind the stumps. 9 runs needed of 4 balls. The batsmen had managed to cross, which meant Jhata was on strike for the third delivery – a full-toss, which he managed to dispatch through extra-cover for four runs. The ball fell just inches short of being a six, and 5 runs were now needed off 3 balls. Jhata then worked a flatter and quicker delivery into the space in the legside, running back hard for the second run. With 3 needed off 2, Ghazanfer held his nerve and tossed one up – Jhata tired to hit it straight down the ground, but didn’t connect cleanly, and Haroon Arshad sprinting in from long-off managed to hold on to a difficult catch. The momentum had swung yet again. 3 were now needed off the final ball, with Tanveer Ahmed on strike. Ghazanfer bowled a low, wide full toss, that Tanveer has able to drill to Haroon at long-off. Haroon fumbled the collection, allowed Charlie Wallis to sprint back for the second run, tying the game in the process!

A dramatic day of cricket, and we were not done yet. After a brief break, we resumed with Ehsan Khan nominating himself to bowl the super over, and HKCC sending out Kinchit Shah and Jhata to face it. After a dot and two single off the first two balls, Kinchit inside-edged Ehsan to the fine-leg boundary for four runs, before outside-edging down to wide-third man for another boundary. He was LBW final ball and HKCC ended with 10 runs in their Super Over.

HK’s death-bowling specialist Tanveer Ahmed -who had returned figures of 0/28 in his four overs- was given the ball for HKCC with 11 to defend, while DLSWCC opted for the in-form Waqas Khan and experienced Munir Dar to open the batting. Tanveer managed to start with a dot and a single to Munir, before Waqas Khan hammered one straight to Kinchit Shah at deep square leg, who took an excellently judged catch. There was nearly a run-out on the 4^th ball, but Tanveer Ahmed wasn’t able to collect the ball cleanly as Mehran Zeb sprinted back for the second run. The batsmen attempted another risky double on the 5^th ball, but Luke Jones made no mistake, securing a direct hit from mid-on to end the match and, finally, at 5:39 PM, secure the victory for HKCC.

An incredible match played out in front of a full-house at HKCC, and thousands of fans watching from around the world. If you missed the game, you can catch a full replay on our Facebook and YouTube pages. Be sure to tune in for another set of exciting matches next week!

Man of The Match: Jhatavedh Subramanyan

- Nitesh Hemlani